I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Laurie Perry‘s latest book, Home is Where the Wine Is. I sat down and read it immediately and am happy to report that it is just as wonderful as her first book. Laurie has such an exquisite sense of humor and a knack for documenting the crazy that is every day life.

A few days ago we sat down (well, we did it online — I was sitting, Laurie may have been in some complex yoga position) for a chat.

Me: Have you always been a writer? Were you writing little stories as a child,
or did your career as an author stem from your blogging?

Laurie: My dad worked at a newspaper and he would bring me to work with him when I
was little and I would sit at the typewriter and clack away for hours. We
lived out int he country and I used to carry around a notebook and write
down my little thoughts and stories (“The cow licked the salt block. It
was salty.”) I wrote all the time, I can’t remember not writing. Later I
went on to be a mediocre reporter, but writing for magazines and
eventually online content was a much better fit for me.

Me: Your writing seems so natural, I picture you sitting down and just putting
words to virtual paper as fast as you can key them in. But I’m guessing
this is not the case (if you are anything like me).

Laurie: I do tend to sit down and just blurt it all out with the keyboard. I don’t
get hung up on my many comma splices or my terrible typos, I just type
(and loudly — I am so hard on the keyboard!) I benefit a lot from an
editor, I tend to be too wordy. This method of pouring it all out in a
stream has worked well for nonfiction but right now I’m trying to write my
first fiction novel and it’s frustrating because you can’t just sit down
and write a fiction book in an hour or two. I get going and I feel like I
can’t type fast enough or keep up with the plot. I’m working at it, but
it’s not coming naturally.

Me: How do you balance your career as an author with your day job, or as I
like to think of it, your Superman persona with your day-to-day Clark Kent
persona. Do your colleagues know much about your life as a celebrity?

Laurie: I try to keep real life and writer life very separate. I don’t talk about
my books or website at work and even though most folks in my office know
about it, they don’t bring it up in conversation usually. I like the
normalcy and routine of my job, it keeps me balanced. Eventually I want to
be able to write full-time but I worry I would become a total recluse and
never leave my house! It’s sometimes hard to balance both jobs when I’m on
deadline but at least with a day job I do have to see other humans and be
presentable and get out of my head.

Me: Will you be touring for this new book? Come to Washington, DC!

Laurie: No tour, thank goodness. I thought a book tour would be glamorous and fun
and then I went on one. I’m pretty sure people in the airport bar in
Nashville still tell tales of the crazy woman who had a nervous breakdown
in the booth by the window.

Me: And that reminds me – I’ve got a great idea for a future Crazy Aunt
Purl project: travel to different cities and write about each place’s
own special brand of crazy. You could start with Washington – I’d be
happy to give you the tour. What do you think? 😉

Laurie: Now that sounds fun! Much more enticing than a book tour. I’m all up for a
crazy tour! You know I have never been to Washington, D.C.? I’d love to
go. I’m a big museum geek, I think I’d love Washington.

Me: It’s a date! hey, the knitting projects in your new book are so fun! What are you knitting
right now?

Laurie: Right now I am still trying to finish some baby booties to match a baby
sweater I planned to send to a friend two months ago. I think the baby has
long outgrown them, sadly.

Laurie: Bob is already sitting on the keyboard. He is awaiting her email.

Lucy sez:

“Meow!”

——-

And here is a bonus: Laurie’s publisher has generously offered to give away 5 copies of her new book to my readers — to those in the U.S. and Canada only, please. If you’d like to win a copy of Home is Where the Wine Is, leave a comment to this blog entry by midnight (eastern time) on Monday, February 15 and the great and mighty Random Number Generator will choose five lucky recipients.

2017 Completed Work

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